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DesignSpark PCB vs CircuitMaker: catalog facts
DesignSpark PCB	CircuitMaker
Best for: Hobbyists and engineers designing circuit boards on a budget	Best for: Hobbyists and makers designing circuit boards for free
Free + paid options Free plan available, with paid Creator and Engineer plans that add advanced features.	Free Free to use, including for commercial designs.
Windows	Windows
Free plan without limits on layers, connections or schematic size Schematic capture and PCB layout in one program All 3 strengths for DesignSpark PCB Free plan without limits on layers, connections or schematic size Schematic capture and PCB layout in one program Interactive HTML BOM export and length-matching routing in higher plans	Built on Altium Designer technology Up to 16 signal and 16 plane layers with no board size limit All 4 strengths for CircuitMaker Built on Altium Designer technology Up to 16 signal and 16 plane layers with no board size limit Commercial use allowed Large community library backed by Octopart
Several newer features are limited to paid plans Not open source	Only five private projects; others are shared with the community Proprietary, unlike KiCad
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Not open source	Not open source
License not stated	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for DesignSpark PCB rs-online.com/designspark/pcb-software Catalog checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for CircuitMaker altium.com/circuitmaker Catalog checked September 24, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.